R. Kelly, a chart-topping R&B singer, has been accused of sexual abuse for more than 20 years.
These accounts date back to his early career in the 1990s. Many of them focus on the predatory pursuit teenage girls.
He was convicted of eight counts in New York of sex trafficking, one in racketeering, and sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years imprisonment.
Robert Sylvester Kelly, the singer, is currently being tried in Chicago separately on charges of child sex images as well as obstruction. He will also be facing sex abuse allegations in Minnesota and Illinois.
Kelly was also a victim of child sex abuse. He wrote his autobiography detailing how he was raped at eight years old by a female relative.
Here’s a list of all the allegations against him.
Kelly, then 27, married Aaliyah, a 15-year old singer in a secret ceremony held in Chicago.
Vibe magazine discovered that Aaliyah had misrepresented her age on her wedding certificate. She listed herself as 18 years old. In February 1995, the marriage was nullified.
Kelly’s former tour manager testified that Kelly bribed a government worker to get a fake ID for Aaliyah in 1994 so the singers could wed.
Aaliyah avoided asking questions about her relationship throughout her career. She told an interviewer, “When people ask about me, I tell them, ‘Hey, don’t believe all of that mess.'” “We are close, and people took it wrongly.”
Kelly never spoke of Aaliyah’s death in 2001 in a plane accident. Kelly does not mention her in his autobiography. An author’s note states that “certain episodes couldn’t be included because of complicated reasons”.
GQ magazine interview, 2016. He described their relationship as best, best and best, but refused to comment on their marriage. Aaliyah and her father, who have asked me not personally, are my reasons for not commenting.
Tiffany Hawkins sued R. Kelly over the “personal injuries” and emotional distress she sustained during a three year relationship with the star.
According to court papers, she claimed that she had sex with Kelly when she was 15, and he was 24. The relationship ended when she turned 18, according to court documents. According to Chicago Sun Times, Ms Hawkins demanded $10m in damages. However, she accepted only a fraction ($250,000) when her case was settled in 1998.
Kelly’s spokesperson said that she did not know of the allegations.
Tracy Sampson sued R. Kelly alleging that he inducing her to “indecent sexual relationships” when she was 17.
The former Epic Records intern claimed that she was treated as his personal sex object, and she was then cast aside.
She said that her husband tried to control every aspect my life, including who and where I would see. According to the New York Post, the case was settled outside court for an undisclosed amount.
Patrice Jones, a Chicago woman, sued Kelly. He claimed that Kelly was pregnant when she was just 18 and forced her to have an abortion.
Montina Woods sued Kelly as well, claiming that Kelly videotaped them having sexual encounters without her consent. According to the bootleggers, the recording was circulated on a “sex cassette” that was sold under the name R. Kelly TripleX.
Both cases were settled out of court by the singer, who paid undisclosed sums to satisfy non-disclosure agreements.
21 counts were filed against him for making videos of child sexual abuse that involved various sexual acts.
Chicago police charged him with taping the acts and inducing a minor to take part. All charges were brought against one girl, who was born September 1984.
The video was anonymously sent to the Chicago Sun Times earlier this year and led to his arrest. They gave it to police who confirmed its authenticity using FBI forensic experts.
Kelly posted $750,000 bail and immediately denied the charges during an interview with MTV. Later, Kelly pleaded not guilty at court.
Six years passed before the case was finally brought to trial. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet album was hugely successful and he was nominated for an Image Award from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). This led to widespread criticism.
Kelly was not found guilty of all charges after the jury concluded that Kelly could not be proven to have been a minor.
Kelly was also charged with 12 additional counts of child sexual abuse images production in Florida. He was taken into custody at his holiday home.
The charges were brought about by police seizing a camera that was being used to capture images of the accused having sex in public with an underage girl.
Kelly’s defense team and a judge agreed to drop the charges.
Buzzfeed published a detailed Buzzfeed report accusing R. Kelly of trapping six females in a sex “cult”.
According to the article, Kelly allegedly seduced young women who approached him for help in their music careers. He then took control of their lives, dictating what they eat, how much they drink, and how they engage with sexual encounters that are recorded.
Kelly confiscated the mobile phones of the women, according to the report. This prevented them from contacting their friends and families.
Three former employees and several parents claimed that their daughters had disappeared.
Buzzfeed’s report led to further allegations.
Jerhonda Pace violated a non-disclosure contract to talk about her sex experiences with Kelly when she was younger. Kitti Jones claimed that the star starved her and coerced to have sexual encounters with other females. She also physically abused her. Ms. Pace would later testify against Kelly at the 2021 trial.
Ms. Kitti spoke with R. Kelly’s inner circle members in March 2018. Lovell Jones, a former friend and collaborator of Kelly, stated that Kelly asked him to look for women that looked young at parties and that it was “common knowledge that the singer prefers young girls.”
#MuteRKelly was a campaign to get RCA, the record label, to end all ties with Kelly. They also targeted concert promoters and ticket sellers. Eventually, Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora agreed to remove Kelly’s songs form their playlists.
Around the same period, Kelly’s personal assistant, lawyer, and publicist all resigned. However, Linda Mensch, attorney for Kelly, stated that her departure was unrelated to allegations about Kelly’s social life.
Kelly performed live in spite of protests outside his shows. Kelly was also filmed saying that the campaign against Kelly was too late.
He sang, “Only God can muffle me”, defiantly in a song called “I Admit”. Your opinion is causing me to lose my job or go to jail.
Meanwhile, a former partner sued the star for inflicting a sexually transmitted illness on her.
Surviving R. Kelly, a Lifetime documentary that aired six hours long, provided the most complete look yet at the accusations against Kelly.
Kelly was fired by his record label two weeks after the broadcast. Kelly was dropped by his record company two weeks after the broadcast.
Michael Avenatti, a celebrity lawyer, stated that he had obtained a video of Kelly having sex in February with a 14 year-old girl. Kelly was then charged in Chicago with 10 counts for aggravated criminal sexual assault. Kelly pleaded not guilty to the charges and gave a TV interview.
The prosecution filed 11 additional charges of sexual assault against a minor between the ages of 13 and 16 years.
According to the charges, oral sex was described as sex and oral sex with minors “by force or threat.” It was believed that the accuser was one of the women featured on Surviving R. Kelly. She claimed to have met Kelly during a previous trial.
Kelly was indicted in two federal cases in Brooklyn and Illinois.
The allegations combined show that the singer and his associates organized a plan to recruit and transport girls underage across state lines for illegal sexual purposes. This included the production of child abuse images and conspiracy to obstruct justice through the destruction of evidence and the bribery or threat to witness.
Minnesota Prosecutors filed charges against R. Kelly for prostitution, which means that he was facing criminal cases in three states.
In 2001, he was accused of asking a teenage girl for his autograph. Kelly invited the 17 year-old girl to his hotel room, and offered $200 (PS164) for her to undress and dance with Kelly.
Kelly’s lawyer stated that the charges were “beyond absurd”.
Kelly was attacked by another inmate at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Centre in his sleep towards the end of August.
His lawyer demanded his immediate release saying that “the government cannot guarantee his safety”. Kelly was not granted bail, and his request for immediate release was rejected along with many other attempts to have Kelly released.
The last pre-trial hearing prior to Kelly’s trial saw US District Judge Ann M Donnelly make a series of rulings that narrowed down the evidence that could be presented to jurors.
She asked one of the lawyers if they had denied that Aaliyah had sexual relations while she was still underage.
According to the Associated Press Thomas A Farinella “let out a deep sigh, and replied, ‘No.’
The trial began in New York on 18 August.
Learn more about the trial
After two days of deliberation and a total of nine days, R. Kelly was found guilty by the jury on 27 September.
Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented many victims, said to reporters that she has been practicing law for 47 years. During that time, I have pursued many sexual predators who committed crimes against children and women.
“Of all the predators I have pursued,” says Kelly.
After intimidating Kelly’s New York trial witness, a man was sentenced for eight years.
According to a statement by the New York attorney’s office, Michael Williams set ablaze a car belonging the father of a witness in June 2020 in an attempt to “prevent” the victim-witnesses from cooperating.
They said that Williams tried to intimidate and use violence to disrupt the justice process and stop victims from speaking up.
Kelly was sentenced for 30 years for sexually abusing children and women through his celebrity status.
Ann Donnelly, a US District Judge, stated that the singer displayed an “indifference towards human suffering” and used sex to his advantage. He forced his victims to do unimaginable things while saddling them with sexually transmitted disease.
She said, “You taught them love is enslavement or violence.”
Kelly’s lawyers say that he will appeal.
